Refuse collection apparatus



Dec. 9, 1958 E. F. KAMIN 2,863,580

REFUSE COLLECTION APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 15, 1956 Afiwys.

Dec. 9, 1958 E. F. KAMIN REFUSE COLLECTION APPARATUS 4 SheetsSheet 5Filed Oct. 15, 1956 m Qw INVENTOR. frnesi" FKczmin BY Dec. 9, 1958 E. F.KAMlN 2,363,580

REFUSE COLLECTION APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 15, 1956 UnitedStates Patent REFUSE COLLECTION APPARATUS Ernest F. Kamin, Portland,Oreg.

Application October 15, 1956, Serial No. 616,010

8 Claims. (Cl. 2 14-504) This invention relates to a refuse collectionvehicle and more particularly to refuse collection apparatus for such avehicle having a hollow truck body and a packer blade movablelongitudinally within the body for compacting refuse deposited therein.7

One of the objects of this invention is to provide an improved packermechanism for a refuse collection .vehicle capable of moving refusebackwardly in the truck body in substantially a vertical plane and insuch a manner that a maximum amount of refuse may be compacted withinthe body.

Refuse or garbage collection vehicles having hollow bodies for thecollection of refuse and packer mechanisms disposed therein areconventional and well-known. Packer mechanisms are included within thebody of the vehicle to increase the capacity of the vehicle and thusdecrease the number of trips which must be made to unload the vehicle.The compression or plow faces of packer mechanisms known heretofore havebeen subject to a number of difiiculties. For instance, plow faces whichincline sharply from the bottom of the plow tend to roll refusecollected thereby into a wave which then dumps in front of the plow faceas it is moved toward the rear of the truck body, the refuse thuscollected tending to become compressed along-the floor of-the truckbody. Such plow faces also have the disadvantage of leaving a decidedundercut when they are retracted from a compression position so that thecompacted refuse tends to slump back into the recess whichremains.

After considerable experimentation, I have found that a plow face whichis curved only slightly from its lower to ,its upper edge, according tothe critical manner herein described, may be employed withanumber ofbeneficial and quite surprising results. By proportioning the plow facein the manner contemplated, movement rearwardly of the refuse within thevehicle body tends to be substantially uniform without appreciablerolling over and redistributing of the refuse. A suificientamount ofcurvature is present to effect a scraping up off the bottom of the bodyof the vehicle and a lifting thereof uniformly throughout thecross-section of the body but not enough to leave an appreciableundercut inthecompacted refuse. Score lines along the sides of the truckbody indicate that as the refuse is moved rearwardly in the body, ittends to move in upwardly curved sweeps resembling distorted parabolaswhich have high horizontal components at the forward end of the truckbody and high vertical components towards the rear of the body. Theupper portions of the plow face, which face downwardly to some degree,cause the layers of refuse which have been moved upwardly in this mannerto be firmly compacted so that a uniformly compacted mass results.Redistributing and compacting of refuse in the manner described isparticularly desirable in connection with the use of elongated,dump-type vehicle bodies where the length of the truck body introducesconstruction difiiculties which make it impractical to employ packermechanisms that travel the entire length of the body during acompression stroke. The plow face construction contemplated hereinenables refuse to be evenly distributed using a relatively shortcompression stroke and, as a consequence, a maximum amount of refuse tobe compressed within the truck body.

Another object of this invention is to provide refuse collectionapparatus for a vehicle which includes novel arresting mechanismdisposed within the vehicle body and operable to retain the refuse inits compacted state after the packer mechanism is retracted from itscompression position.

A related and more specific object is to provide such arrestingmechanism which includes upright members positioned along each side ofthe truck body which first compact the refuse laterally and then operateto check the expansion of the refuse after it has been compressed bypresenting inwardly disposed retention planes which entrap the refuse.

Refuse vehicles having dump-type truck bodies generally are cleared ofrefuse by tilting the dump body, thereby to dump the refuse through asuitable opening provided at the rear of the .dump body. In compressingthe refuse, the refuse is compacted rearwardly toward this rear opening. It is obvious that if any considerable degreeofcornpactness is tobe attained in the refuse, the structure employed for covering thisopening must be able to withstand considerable pressures generated bythe packer mechanism. it is therefore another object of this inventionto provide a novel means for covering the rear end open; ing of a dumpbody which may be readily opened and closed'and which, when closed,presents a sturdy, relatively deflection free compacting surface capableof withstanding considerable pressure exerted thereagainst.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide for a refusevehicle having a dump body and a packer mechanism disposed therein, .anovel retractable step ladder facilitating the loading of refuse intothe vehicle by presenting a novel step-up arrangement adjacent the pathof the packer mechanism in the vehicle. i

Still another object of this invention is to provide a refuse vehiclewith novel packer mechanism having arms at each end of the compressionface for the packer mechanism, these arms projecting from thecompression face toward the rear of the vehicle and being telescopicallyreceived by a pair of guide tracks disposed withintlie body of thevehicle, the arms and guide tracks heingso arranged as to resist tiltingand skewing of the compression stroke.

Further, it is an object to provide sucharms and guide tracks which areoperable to deflect refuse or garbage to the interior of the body of therefuse vehicle and whioh are constructed so that they are protected frombecoming jammed by miscellaneous bits of refuse.

These and other objects and advantages are, attained by the variousnovel features hereinafter describedin detail, taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a refuse collection ,vehicle according to thisinvention, shown partly broken away tto disclose details of theinvention;

.Fig. 2 is a simplified side view illustrating how refuse may be dumpedfrom the vehicle; i

Fig. 3 is aside view, taken along the line 33 inFig, 1, illustrating theretractable step ladder employed in the invention; i

Fig. 4-is another side view, similar to,Fig.13, showing the retractablestepladder in raised position;

Fig. 5 is a front view oftheretractable step laddenof Fig. 4; I r

Fig. 6 is a top view of the refuse collection vehicle;

Fig. 7 is a rear end viewofithe-body ofdthe vehicle,

showing the covering means employed for closing the rear end opening ofthe vehicle; A

Fig. 8 is a section view, along the line 8-8 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 9 is a section view, along the line 99 in Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a section view, along the line 10-10 in Fig. 9, showingdetails of the motor mechanism employed for the packer mechanism;

Figs. 11 and 12 are sectional views taken along the lines 1111 and12-12, respectively, of Fig. 9; and

Fig. 13 is a perspective view, with parts removed, of the packermechanism and truck body, showing the compression face and arms of thepacker mechanism and the guide tracks for the arms.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1, 2, 6, 8. and 9, a refuse collectionvehicle. according to this invention comprises, in general, a standardtruck 10, having front and rear support wheels 11 and 12, respectively,and a rearwardly extending frame 13. Pivoted to the rear end of frame13, at pivot 14, is a dump body 16, which is moved into dumpingposition, illustrated in Fig. 2,,in a conventional manner, the mechanismillustrated comprising a pair of extensible hydraulic rams 17 eachpivotally connected at one of its ends 18 to a base portion of the dumpbody and at the other of its ends 19 to a mounting bracket projectingdownwardly from one side of frame 13. The second hydraulic ram (notshown) is mounted on the other side of frame 13. Suitable pump andcontrol mechanism are provided for raising and lowering the dump body,not illustrated as the details of their construction are conventionaland are not considered material to the disclosure of this invention.

Dump body 16 of the refuse vehicle comprises a flat floor 21, verticalside walls 22 and 23, front wall 24 and top 26. Because of the rathersubstantial forces which are generated during the compression of refusewithin the body when the packer mechanism-is moved against the refuse,the sides and top may be reinforced with multiple structural members,which may be angle irons or the like, represented at 27, 28, 29, and 30.

An opening is provided at the rear end of body 16 for dumping refusefrom the truck, and, as discussed hereinbelow, means are provided forcovering the opening during the intervals that refuse is being collectedwithin the body. In the embodiment illustrated, another opening isprovided at the forward end of the dump body, that is the end of body 16which lies adjacent the cab of the refuse vehicle, the opening extendingacross the top and down opposite sides of the dump body so as toaccommodate depositing refuse into the interior of the dump body fromeither side thereof. 'The opening at the forward end comprises sideopenings 31, 32, and top opening 33, each side opening being providedwith closure members such as a side door 36 which is pivoted to the sidewall of the body and latched in'closing position as by latch 37 andsliding side panel 38. Top opening 33 is provided with sliding top panel39 arranged to reciprocate in a horizontal plane into covering positionover opening 33. With reference to Figs. 1, 8, 9, and 13, where detailswithin the interior of the dump body are more specifically disclosed, apacker mechanism 46 is mounted within the elongated dump body formovement longitudinally within the body from a retracted positionwherein the packer mechanism lies adjacent the forward wall of the body,to a compression position located rearwardly from this position. Thestroke of the packer mechanism is indicated in Fig. 9 by the doubleended arrow 50. The packer mechanism includes a curved compression faceor plow face 47 which, as can be seen with reference to the dottedoutline in Fig. 9,

occupies in the compression position a position rearwardly of sideopenings 31 and 32. Plow face 47 is comprised of a metal sheet or plate48 mounted on a support structure 49 and has protruding therefrom a pairof arms 51 and 52 one at each end of the plow face and affixed to lowerportions of its support structure. 7 V

Turning more specifically to a description of the plow face, the plowface is mounted within the dump body for movement approximatelyone-third of the length of the dump body. Face 47 has its bottom edgelying closely adjacent the floor of the body and its top edge spaced asubstantial distance above the bottom edge and toward the forward end ofbody 16, or forwardly of the bottom edge. The face lies in more or lessa vertical plane, deviat ing therefrom by means of a slight curvaturewhich is sufficient to scrape refuse from the floor of the vehicle andredistribute it upwardly as the plow face is moved rear- Wardly in thebody (as indicated by the curved arrows in Fig. 9), yet which is slightenough so that rolling over and massing of the refuse in a wave issubstantially eliminated. Further, the upper portions face downwardly,to some degree, to compress refuse diverted upwardly by the lower edgeof the face. To this end, it has been found that the face of the plowshould be formed upon substantially an unbroken curve which is indentedtoward the forward end of the dump body with its maximum indentationspaced vertically from the bottom edge a (118 tance equal to aboutonethird to one-fourth the distance from the bottom to the top edge. Themaximum indentation should be spaced toward the front of the dump bodyor forwardly of the bottom edge a distance equal approxlmately toone-fourth or less the vertical distance between the maximum indentationand the bottom edge. Preferably, the top edge of the plow face should bespaced forwardly of the bottom edge a distance of about one-half or moreof this horizontal spacing between the forward edge and the maximumindentation. By way of an example, a plow face approximating 67 inchesin height whlch was indented forwardly from the bottom edge about 5inches, the maximum indentation being spaced vertically about 22 inchesfrom the bottom edge and the bottom edge protruding rearwardly in thedump body approx mately 3 inches of the upper edge, is found to behighly satisfactory.

As can best be seen in Fig. 13, arms 51 and 52 extend rearwardly in thedump body with their ends received within a pair of hollow guide trackelements 53 and 54, respectively. These guide tracks lie adjacent theSldS and floor of the dump body and are adapted telescopically toreceive the arms as the packer mechamsm moves rearwardly in the dumpbody.

Guide tracks 53 and 54, in general, consist of plates afiixed to thesides and base of the body, the plates extending outwardly and thendownwardly toward the floor of the body at an oblique angle relative tothe floor so as to deflect refuse thrown upon the guide tracks towardthe interior of the truck. Arms 51 and 52, as can seen with reference toarm 51 in Fig. 13, each include an elongated mounting plate 56 whichextends outwardly and then downwardly at an angle toward the floorthereby to deflect in a similar manner refuse which may be thrown uponthe arms. Referring to Figs. 8 and 13, guide tracks 53, 54 have top andbottom edge extensions 57, 58 and 59, 60, respectively, projectingforwardly in the body and encompassing peripheral edge portions of thearms, thereby shielding the arms from matter which might otherwiseaccumulate within the arms.

As may best be seen in Figs. 11 and 13, each of the arms carries anumber of rollers which serve to position the arms within the guidetracks, thereby steadying the arms so as to resist skewing and twistingof the plow face. Counterclockwise movement of the plow face about itslower edge is counteracted by a roller 61 rotatably carried byrearwardly projecting ear portions of each mounting plate 56, roller 61traveling along the underside of horizontal overlying portions of hollowguide tracks 53, 54. A roller 65 rotatably carried by depending earportions at the forward end of each arm assists in resisting thiscounterclockwise movement. Additional rollers 62, 63 steady the plowface from skewing laterally as it travels in its path toward the rear ofthe truclebody. Clockwise rotation of the plow face about its lower edgeis resisted by a roller 64 rotatably carried in depending ear portionsat the rear of each mounting plate 56. Rollers 64 and 65 travel alongthe floor of the body generally parallel to the side walls andpreferably are mounted over underlying floor frame members, such asmember 66, to insure firmfoundation for the rollers.

Rollers 67 and 68, rotatably supported in support structure 49 of thepacker mechanism forwardly of the plow face, are included to assistrollers 61 in inhibing counterclockwise movement of the plow face. Theserollers are preferably positioned over the frame members offrame 13 soas to obtain firm support for the rollers.

Rearwardly of side openings 31, 32 is an arresting and laterallycompressing mechanism positioned along the sides of thedump body andoperable to retard the movement of refuse forwardly past the arrestingmechanism while accommodating relatively free passage of refuserearwardly toward the rear of the dump body. More specifically,referring to Figs. 8 and 13, positioned within the body on each side ofthe body are a pair of upright members 71 and 72 of triangular sectionarranged with their forward sides or deflection planes inclined at anoblique angle relative to the sides of body 16 and their rear sides orretention planes inclined at a considerably greater angle, preferably atright angles, to the side walls, refuse tending to be entrapped behindthese upright members when the plow face is pulled forwardly to itsretracted position. Expansion of the refuse which occurs when pressureceases to be exerted by the packer mechanism aids members 71, 72 inretaining the refuse in position rearwardly in the dump body, the refusetending to become locked by reason of its re-expansion. As discussedhereinbefore, by using a plow face curved in the manner described, arelatively uniform wall fo refuse may be collected in the rear portionsof the dump body so that these upright members act to retain the refusein this condition as it is packed into the vehicle body.

Commonly, refuse may contain a considerable amount of material such ascrushed boxes, cartons, and the like. Much of this material requiresthat a substantial amount of pressure be generated by the packermechanism if any large degree of compression in the refuse is to beobtained. While some lateral pressure is exerted against the side walls,the greatest amount of pressure tends to be created longitudinally ofthe body and thus be directed directly against the covering structureused to cover the rear end opening of the body. This inventioncontemplates a novel arrangement for closing the rear end and offering acompacting surface for the packer mechanism.

More specifically referring to Figs. 6, 7, and 9, swung at pivots 75, 76at each of the side walls of the dump body are a pair of doors 77 and78. These doors may be pivoted from the open position shown in dottedlines in Fig. 6 to the closed position shown in solid lines in Fig. 6wherein the no-npivoted, lateral edges of the doors lie proximate oneanother and the doors cover the rear end of the dump body. On the outerface of the doors, that is, on their rearward faces, is a series oflatch pins. Upper latch pins 79, 80, and 81 and lower latch pins 82, 83,and 84 are arranged with their outer ends lying adjacent top and bottomedges of the doors. These latch pins are slidably mounted in framemembers 86, 87, 88, and 89 extending horizontally along the outer faceof the doors and aflixed thereto. The inner ends of opposite pairs ofthese latch pins are link connected, as by links 91, 92, to a togglemember 90 which, as viewed in Fig. 7, may be rotated in a clockwisedirection to withdraw the pins inwardly toward each other. Rotation inthe opposite direction serves to thrust the latch pins away from eachother with their ends" protruding over upper and lowelflportions of thetruck body. Secured to cross members 93 and' which are part of the frameof the truck body, along the top and bottom portions of the bodyadjacent doors 77 78 are upper and lower eye members 94 and 96. When'thedoors are closed, the outer ends of the latch pins project through theseeye members thereby fixing the doors in a closed position.

Extending across the inner face of the doors, gener ally underlying thelatching mechanism described and aflixed to the doors throughout theirlength as by welding, are a series of strong backs 97, 98, and 99. Thesemay be made of any suitable structural material such as angle irons,which have the requisite strength to resist bowing and deflection of thedoors. The ends of each strong member lie adjacent upper and lower edgesof the door to which it is attached and proximate the ends of a pair oflatch pins-mounted on the outer face of the door. Thus the strong backsand latch pins co-operate to form a rigid covering for the rear open ingof the dump body, the strong backs preventing deflection and bowing ofthe doors and the latch pins rigidly securing the doors releasably tothe frame of the body at edge portions directly overlying and proximatetheends of the strong backs.

Referring to Figs. 10 and 13, a pair of double acting expansiblehydraulic motors 101, 102, positioned within each of the arms 51 and 52,respectively, are provided for moving the packer means back' and forthwithin the body. The cylinder end of each is pivoted, as at pivot 103,to the rear end of each arm, and the piston rod for each motor ispivotally connected to a mounting 104 secured to the floor at theforward end of the dump body. These motors are arranged with theirpiston rod ends connected to forward portions of the dump body and theircylinder ends connected to rear portions of each arm in-order to presentthe greatest possible access to the interior of each arm and therebyreduce cleaning difliculties.

Suitable conduits are provided for admitting fluid under pressure to oneside of each motor and exhausting fluid from the other side of eachmotor. Thus, as may be seen with reference to Fig. 10, flexible conduits106 and 107 connect the forward end of each motor with a control valve108, and flexible conduits 109 and 111 connect the rear end of eachmotor with another segment of control valve 108. Valve 108 is operableto deliver pressure fluid selectively to either conduit 107 or 111,while providing an exhaust for the remaining conduit and is adjusted, inthe ordinary manner, by means of handle Coil springs 113, 114, connectedat one of' their ends toconduits 107, 111 and at the other of their endsto the truck body (not shown), may be provided to'take" up slack inthese conduits.

It will be seen from the above that packer mechanism" 46 is eflfectiveto move refuse deposited in the forward end of the dump body rearwardlyto rear portions of the body, and openings 31, 32, and 33 in the sidewalls" climb up and deposit ;refuse-through the openings pro vided.Referring to Figs. 1, 3, 4, and 5, the step ladder: means comprises apair of spaced step'supports 116 and 117, pivoted to brace members 118affixed to the base" of the dump'body by means of pivot pins 119. Extending between the step supports are a-pair of step members 121 and 122rigidly secured at their ends to the step A11 abutment member 123,positioned at the nose of each step support, engages the inneredge of"each brace member when the steps are swung outwardly to their loweredpositions, asshown in Fig. 3 A second abutment member-- 124, securedtoe'ach step support ad? supports.

jacent the lower step member, strikes the outer edge of each bracemember when the steps are swung to their raised position, as shown inFig. 4. A kicker arm 126 is secured to the nose of step support 117 soas to swing outwardly when the steps are raised, the arm permitting thesteps to be lowered by a kick of the foot. A through member 127,extending between step supports 116 and 117, is provided to offer anauxiliary foot support when the step ladder is in a raised position. Ascan be seen with reference to Fig. 4, through member 127 is positionedin the step supports so that when the step ladder is pivoted to itsraised position, the through member occupies an overcenter positionrelative to the pivot connections for the step supports. In this manner,in the event that the vehicle operator climbs up on through member 127,the steps are prevented from inadvertently swinging to a loweredposition, the weight of the operator tending to rotate the step ladderclockwise, as viewed in Fig. 4, against abutment member 124.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that a novel refuse collectionapparatus has been described which has a number of features whichcontribute to the over-all utility of the apparatus. The constructionemployed for the plow face in the packer mechanism is particularlyvaluable when used with the ordinary elongated dumptype vehicle wherethe size of the dump body makes a long compression stroke impractical.By utilizing the type of curvature herein described, refuse tends to becollected .from the floor of the truck body and pushed upwardly as it ismoved toward the rear, the upper layers of refuse being compressed atthe same time by the upper portions of the plow face. The plow face issufficiently near the vertical so that rolling of the refuse handledinto a wave and leaving an undercut in the refuse after it has beencompressed, is prevented. Further, by including the novel arrestingmechanism discussed, the evenly distributed mass of refuse created bythe packer mechanism is retained in its compressed state at the rear ofthe vehicle, the refuse tending to expand behind the arresting mechanismso as to lock itself in position. The relatively large pressuresgenerated by the packer mechanism are effectively resisted by theinclusion of the novel strong backs and latch mechanisms discussedherein. The inclusion of the step ladder mechanism further increases theutility of the vehicle by expediting the ease with which the dump bodymay be loaded with refuse.

The refuse collection vehicle may be manufactured relativelyeconomically, and may be produced from existing multi-purpose dumptrucks with a minimum amount of conversion work. The collection vehicle,although equipped to handle refuse, may still be used for mostgeneral-purpose work, as the size of the dump body need not be alteredmaterially from those presently now in use for such work. Thus, a truckmay be equipped for part time garbage or refuse collection and employedthe rest of the time for other purposes.

As used herein, the terms forward, forwardly," rearward and rearwardlyallude to relative positions with reference to the front and rear endsof the vehicle.

It is claimed and desired to secure by Letters Patent:

1. Refuse collection apparatus for a refuse vehicle comprising a hollowbody having side walls, a floor, and forward and rear end openings forthe reception and ejection of refuse, respectively; packer means movablelongitudinally within said body between a retracted position and acompression position located rearwardly in said body of said retractedposition; means for moving said packer means between said positions;said packer means having a curved compression face extendingtransversely of said body with its bottom edge adjacent the floor ofsaid body and a top edge spaced a substantial distance above said bottomedge and forwardly in said body of said bottom edge; said compressionface being formed upon a substantially unbroken curve which is indentedtoward the forward end of said body with its maximum indentation spacedvertically from-sald bottom edge a distance of from between aboutone-third to one-fourthv to the movement of refuse forwardly in saidbody than is encountered by the movement of refuse rearwardly in saidbody, said arresting means comprising a pair of elongated members, oneon each side of said body and each presenting forwardly a deflectionsurface and rearwardly a retention surface. 2. Refuse collectionapparatus for a refuse vehicle comprising a hollow body having sidewalls, a floor, and for-- ward and rear end openings for the receptionand ejection of refuse, respectively; packer means having a compressionface extending transversely of said body and movable longitudinallywithin said body between a retracted position and a compression positionlocated rearwardly of said retracted position; means for moving saidpacker means between said retracted and compression positions; andarresting means operable to offer a-greater resistance to movement ofrefuse forwardly in said body than is encountered by movement of refuserearwardly; said arresting means comprising a pair of upright memberspositioned opposite one another within said body, one along each side ofsaid body; each of said upright members presenting forwardly adeflection plane and rearwardly a retention plane; said deflection planebeing inclined at an oblique angle relative to the sides of said bodywhich is greater than the angle of inclination of said retention plane.

3. Refuse collection apparatus for a refuse vehicle comprising a hollowbody having side walls, a floor, and a wall at the rear end of said bodyoffering a compacting surface; packer means having a compression faceextending transversely of said body and movable longitudinally withinsaid body between a retracted position and a compression positionlocated rearwardly of said retracted position; and arresting means forholding refuse compacted by said packer means, said arresting meanscomprising a pair of upright members positioned opposite one anotherwithin said body, one along each side of said body; each of said uprightmembers presenting forwardly a deflection plane inclined at an obliqueangle relative to the sides of said body, and rearwardly a retentionplane inclined relative to said sides at an angle which is less than theangle of inclination of said deflection plane.

4. Refuse collection apparaus for a refuse vehicle comprising a hollowbody having side walls, a floor, and forward and rear end openings forthe reception and ejection of refuse, respectively; packer means havinga compression face extending transversely of said body and movablelongitudinally within said body between a retracted position and acompression position located rearwardly of said retracted position; saidpacker means having a pair of arms, one at each end of said compressionface, extending rearwardly of said face adjacent the sides and floor ofsaid body; a pair of hollow guide track elements aflixed to said bodyadjacent the sides of said body adapted to telescopically receive eachof said arms, respectively; and an expansible hydraulic motor interposedbetween the forward end of said body and the rear end of each of saidarms; expansion of said motors moving said packer means to saidcompression position.

5. The refuse collection apparatus of claim 4 wherein said hollow guidetrack elements and said arms have upper deflection surfaces which slopedownwardly and inwardly from the sides of said body so as to deflectrefuse toward the interior of said body.

6. The refuse collection apparatus of claim 5 wherein the rear ends ofsaid arms are provided with roller mounts which support said ends fromdeflection upwardly from the floor of said body; and wherein the packermeans also includes roller mounts spaced forwardly of said compressionface supporting forward portions of said packer means from deflectiondownwardly toward the floor of said body.

7. Refuse collection apparatus for a refuse vehicle comprising a hollowbody having side walls, a floor, and forward and rear end openings forthe reception and ejection of refuse, respectively; packer means movablelongitudinally within said body between a retracted position and acompression position located rearwardly of said retracted position; saidpacker means having a curved compression face extending transversely ofsaid body and a pair of arms, one at each end of said compression face,extending rearwardly of said face adjacent the sides and floor of saidbody; the bottom edge of said face lying adjacent the floor of said bodyand the top edge of said face being spaced a substantial distance abovesaid bottom edge and forwardly of said bottom edge; said compressionface being formed upon a substantially unbroken curve which is indentedtoward the forward end of said body with its maximum indentation spacedvertically from said bottom edge a distance of from between aboutone-third to one-fourth the distance from said bottom to said top edge,and forwardly of said bottom edge a distance equal to about one-fourthor less the distance of said maximum indentation from said bottom edge;a pair of hollow guide track elements affixed to said body adjacent thesides of said body and adapted to telescopically receive each of saidarms, respectively; and an expansible hydraulic motor interposed betweenthe forward end of said body and the rear end of each of said arms;expansion of said motor moving said packer means to said compressionposition.

8. A refuse vehicle comprising a vehicle frame; an elongated dump bodyhaving side walls and floor pivotally supported at its rearward end tosaid frame; openings along the side walls of said body at the forwardend of said body for the reception of refuse; an opening at the rear endof said body for the ejection of refuse by pivoting said body about itspivot support; packer means having a compression face extendingtransversely of said body and movable longitudinally within said bodybetween a retracted position located forwardly of said side wallopenings and a compression position located rearwardly of said side wallopenings; and arresting means operable to offer a greater resistance tomovement of refuse forwardly in said body than is encountered bymovement of refuse rearwardly; said arresting means comprising a pair ofupright members positioned opposite one another within said body to therear of said side wall openings, one along each side wall of said body;each of said upright members presenting forwardly a deflection plane andrearwardly a retention plane; said deflection plane being inclined at anoblique angle relative to said side walls which is greater than theangle of inclination of said retention plane.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,635,422 Keesee July 12, 1927 2,317,680 Fitzpatrick Apr. 27, 19432,726,776 Myers Dec. 13, 1955 2,741,375 Backes Apr. 10, 1956

